The May 2020 Shelter at Home has caused many movies to make their bow outside of theaters. During the Pandemic, we slowly adapt to the New Normal. Hell, I didn’t realize I split the indie movie coverage into three different posts. Check it out!
Cry Havoc
Cry Havoc is the latest Bronzi film. While it seems due to the Hollywood features drying up, it seems the indie movies are finally getting recognized by those that won’t touch them. Well, if you’re coming to Bronzi late…here’s his deal. He looks a lot like Charles Bronson. That’s the joke.
The film plays like a third rate take on Jason Voorhees by way of Silent Rage. Yet, there’s Richard Tyson watching everything as an out-of-sight puppet master. Sure, he’s hooked to an IV and living out his best May 2020, but it’s weird. Not good weird, more like a plot point that is never followed up to my satisfaction.
It’s a reality show where people get murdered? Bronzi is playing a cop? Why does this movie feel like it’s 5 hours long. While it’s in my wheelhouse, I can’t say I was a fan.
Proximity
Proximity is the one On Demand release of May 2020 that puzzled me. Normally, I’m a big fan of alien encounter movies. Hell, I’m a bigger fan of Sci-Fi movies that make us question our role in the universe. What I got was a movie that seems split between wanting to be an Alien Encounter take on WarGames and a serious look at what First Contact looks like via a leaked online video.
The initial setup is among the strongest first hours of a film I’ve seen in May 2020. However, I’m left wondering about all the turns the film took after that point. Did we need a motorcycle chase? What was the point of making the hidden base in Costa Rica? But, the alien design was cool for an indie movie.
Proximity is a good directorial debut, but it’s not one that I feel the need to pick up again. Before I forget, watch the film and tell me if you pick up on the sub-textual Christian vibe. By the end of the movie, it was pretty noticeable.
A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND
A Good Woman is Hard to Find is pretty pleasantly gruesome. Yet, I don’t by the levels of abuse that Sarah Bolger experiences. Much like The Invisible Man earlier in the year, it just drops you into the world of a mistreated woman. While it’s easy to believe she has gone through hell since her husband was killed, there’s no context. Content still matters even in May 2020.
Watching a widow’s revenge is never clean-cut. Whether it’s a Greek tragedy or one of the 7,000 exploitation films I check out at a moment’s notice. That’s not to say our lead heroine doesn’t destroy people with random tools. She slices and dices like Wes Craven before the 90s ruined him.
Out of all the May 2020 films, this was my favorite warts and all. Mainly because I buy that people can go crazy and destroy anyone that wronged them. The kids feel like an afterthought after the first reel. Yet, they are also an anchor for why the lady gets revenge for her husband. The entire film is confusing when you dwell there.
I hope you dug the first part of our May 2020 coverage. After the regular theatrical releases ended, it kinda threw my mental timetable off. So, we’re going to bundle these up for a bit.